Tuesday the 9th

 Long Loop No More

The medio loop was back tonight, with it's right turn onto Jude Lane. 

Sprint Points:

At the Greenhouse climb it was Sean M ahead of Chris C and then Dan Smith. 

 For the finale it was Steve B ahead of Stefano P and then Little T 

Tuesday the 2nd

 POINTS:
Steve B got the first one after a group went clear late on Mount Vernon.

Going into the Greenhouse Climb, Dan Smith attacked early and held on for it in front of Little T and then Noah Black in 3rd. 

For the finale it was:
Noah Black
Little T
and then Aaron Black rounding out the top 3. 

Tuesday the 26th

A group breaks clear and the ride gets all weird.... 

Turn around: 
Little T got it
Joe K took second
Sean Maher there for third 

Then heading toward the second time over 322, on the way back into Cheshire, a group of about 5 or 6 of the stronger guys went clear and got the light. From there, George Elias took off and was allowed to go clear. 
 
Greenhouse climb:
George in front
Hunter P next over the line with Turner French right there.

Dan Smith would then push on and catch Goerge and those two finished the ride our front. Little T would nab the field sprint front the rest. 

 

Tuesday the 19th

Back to Your Normal Programming 

Solid group out for the ride tonight. It was a normal-sized crew, eager to crush it with the nice weather. Early on, it was the New Haven Angels show, with Dan Smith and George E hitting the front and pushing the pace.

Not to be outdone, Sean Mayer from CVC accelerated several times, putting himself on the front “in harm’s way” for multiple sets of poles to get the job done for the rest.

Heading onto Mountain Road, a small group formed: Sean Mayer, Hunter P, George Elias, and Dan Smith. That move drew a reaction from the pack, and Noah Black jumped up to join, along with Chris C. The light at the end of Mountain Road turned red, which brought it all back together.

Apparently, George had had enough and weirdly shortcutted across traffic, probably disappearing up Route 68 into Prospect (?). Maybe next time. 

After that, it was standard steady-going, with Sean Mayer again taking some key pulls heading into Southington. Little T was up there too, attacking through the chicane and onto Marion. Steve B launched a couple of big attacks both before and on Mount Vernon, and he also went for the prize on the Turnaround Sprint.

Onto Welch and then West for the sprint, there was a big headwind pushing everyone back. Steve B attacked early and was looking like he'd take it, but Sean Mayer put in a massive dig on West Street that splintered the pack. Hunter P managed to hold his wheel and kicked off the sprint, with Noah Black also winding it up. Noah came around for first, Hunter P grabbed second, and then Steve B.

From there, the ride mostly stayed together. Stefano P and Sean Maher tried to hit it hard on East Johnson, Steve B attacked a couple of times as well, first late on Atwater, and then at the before the Greenhouse climb. Also, Brent de la Bee.... He was near the front up the hill looking to suss out another strong run into the sprint. 

In the end, Hunter P jumped, and nobody was able to mount a serious challenge. Behind him was Dan Smith and Brent de la Bee.

After that the ride back into Hamden was standard, with no one putting in any big attacks. Little T got the final Sprint with Brent and Stefano P behind him.

Tuesday the 12th

 Half Were Tired / Half Wanted Revenge

On the heels of Tokeneke (Toe-kin-eek), the pack today was in a weird flummoxed state. Some were content to go slower, some wanted none of that. In the midde of that, it was great to see Steve B out there once again. 

Pretty early on the surges and the moves started coming. Eventually Dan Smith would crack a gap open on Mountain Road. Turner French would bridge, taking along George E. When they snuck through the light on Route 68, that was that. Gone for the night. They put mondo amount of time into the pack, which was content to have a cruiser of an evening. 

 

Tuesday the 5th

 The Return of the Interlandi

The whole crew was back out tonight for a great Sleeping Giant Ride. It was awesome to see John Interlandi back in the mix, looking a little older, a little wiser, but riding just as strong as ever. Hope to see you again soon out there, John.

Early aggressors were George Elias, Sean Maher, and Dan Smith. The pace was solid in the early parts, with a few surges from Dan and George to spice things up. The pack stayed mostly together all the way to Mountain Road, where traffic at the intersection seemed to stymie George’s plans to attack early. From there the pace stayed steady, with no big moves. Jon Fecik was chasing everything down + attacking off the front towards the end of Mountain. Have you every seen a monkey try to hump a coconut? Just watch an elite triathlete get out of the saddle to attack. The entire group got the green light at the end of Mountain, which led to some tense moments at the start of Moss Farms as the proverbial elastic stretched.

George Elias and Hunter P. traded heavy pulls at the front to keep the pressure on. Brent DeLaB rolled through once with Hacker as well. Heading into the chicane, Little T threw down an attack and got off the front with Sean Maher, but they were reeled in on the way to Marion.

Chris Sima was also active tonight throwing in attacks here and there, along with an unknown rider in a long-sleeve jersey who has been out once or twice this year. Getting on Marion, George E attacked on the climb and was allowed to roll clear. He held a gap all the way to the light at 322. He had to pause to get through the intersection, which cut into his 100 meter advantage. The chase behind got the green light and it was all back together just before the ride onto Mount Vernon.

Dan Smith took over at the front, putting in a strong pull that shook off a small group of three or four. But with plenty of fresh legs who hadn’t been involved in the earlier chase, the pace stayed high as others rolled through to keep it moving. From there the ride continued down Mount Vernon in an orderly fashion. No big attacks, no big controversies. Things slowed as everyone queued up for Welch.

On Welch, Sean Maher pushed to the front. Brent DeLaB was also up there, but it was mostly all together at the base of the final climb to the intersection. George E. took off, along with Hunter P., Little T, and the Black brothers. This led to a steady push to the line and a well-organized sprint. Sean Maher launched first, followed by Noah B. and Hunter P. Noah was able to come around to take the win, with Hunter P. second and Sean Maher third. All three finished close together.

On the backside, Little T and one or two others joined up, forming a dangerous-looking group, but a red light at the I-84 interchange brought it all back together. From there, George Elias and Sean Maher kept the gas on. Using the queued-up traffic past the I-84 on-ramps, they pushed off the front while the peloton was still strung out single file. They stayed on it through the final light on Prospect, heading uphill into a headwind. With plenty of Angels up front, the chase never came. The two hit the descent with a 100 meter gap, stretched it to 200 meters at the next intersection, and that was the last they’d be seen for the night.

Behind them, the pace eased as the rest settled in for the final push into Cheshire. Chris Sima attacked on East Johnson, getting over the hill first and rolling out of sight, though apparently not on course after that.

So for the last quarter of the ride, the pack was racing for third up the Greenhouse climb. Stefano P. went early in a bid for a solo run, and he had Hunter P behind soft-pedaling in support. He was eventually reeled in halfway up the climb. From there, Brent DeLaB positioned himself for a launch just after the light on Country Club. Sure enough, he hit right after the light. To  his credit, with his not knowing exactly where the line was, he was able to extend his sprint out for a while in front of a charging Noah B., Little T, Hacker, and a couple others going hard for the line.

From there, the ride finished in standard fashion, rolling steady to the end.

Tuesday the 29th

 A Smaller Group Gets Skewerd by the Break

 As expected the turnout was a little light tonight with a lot of guys opting to head up to the Rent for the rescheduled CCAP Tuesday Night Crit.

 At home here for SGR the group got off to a slow start but once things got cooking repeated attacks from Turner French, Hacker, Sean H, Chris C, and Sean Maher whipped the pace up.

Sure enough on Mountain Road the elastic snapped giving those three a chance to take a gap to the light. They got the green there and that was the end of it. Those three stayed off the front comfortably for the evening.